NOW
AI dreams, smaller price tag
Truist Securities took a scissors to ServiceNow’s price target, dropping it to $125 from $175. But before you start imagining a full-on analyst breakup text, the firm kept its Buy rating intact. So this is more “we still like you, just not as much at this exact moment” than a true panic move.
Why the vibe check got stricter
The big issue here is timing. Truist said customers it spoke with over the last two months weren’t screaming for a ServiceNow replacement — that’s the good news. The less shiny part is that many are still in proof-of-concept mode on AI, which means the revenue fireworks may take longer to show up than the market wants.
That matters because ServiceNow has been pitched as one of the cleaner ways to package enterprise AI into something businesses will actually pay for. If customers are still poking at the buttons instead of buying the whole machine, the near-term upside can look a little less like a rocket ship and a little more like a loading bar.
The setup going into earnings
Truist still expects ServiceNow to post strong first-quarter results when it reports on April 22. And the firm also pointed to the company’s spot in vendor consolidation — basically, the idea that big enterprises would rather stack more tools onto a trusted platform than rip everything out and start over.
That’s the key investor takeaway: this wasn’t a thesis change, just a valuation haircut. ServiceNow still has the AI narrative, the customer base, and the brand. But Wall Street is increasingly asking the annoying adult question: when does the AI excitement show up in the numbers?
Big picture: ServiceNow still has believers, but the market is clearly moving from “AI will save everything” to “okay, show me when.”